Pour 1/3 cup of water in a small bowl and evenly sprinkle gelatin on the surface. Allow it to stand for at least five to ten minutes. Then, sift the sugar and cornstarch in a separate bowl.

Line a baking pan with two sheets of waxed or parchment paper. Lay the sheets in a perpendicular fashion to each other enough to cover all sides of the pan including the bottom. Sift the cornstarch mixture to the pan and cover the bottom. Reserve some of the cornstarch mixture.

Then, using a small heavy saucepan, place this over medium-heat and stir together a tablespoon of moonshine along with sugar, agave nectar, salt and two tablespoons of water. Do not stir and wait until all these come to a boil or until it reaches 238 degrees F to 240 degrees F.

Add the bloomed gelatin onto the mixer bowl and add in two tablespoons of moonshine.

Turn off the mixer and pour the entire hot sugar syrup on the gelatin. Whip the mixture using low speed for thirty seconds with the speed increasing to medium for thirty seconds more. After which, increase the speed to high for ten to eleven minutes. The mixture should now be smooth and glossy.

Transfer this mixture onto a prepared pan and smoothen the surface using a spatula. Allow it to stand in room temperature for three to four hours.

Use the remaining cornstarch mixture on the marshmallow’s surface. Remove this from the pan by allowing the knife to run along the edges to make it easy to peel the parchment paper away. Cover the edges using cornstarch mixture. Cut into the marshmallow and create two-inch squares.

This recipe is from the book People’s Pops: 55 Recipes for Ice Pops, Shave Ice, and Boozy Pops from Brooklyn’s Coolest Pop Shop By Nathalie Jordi, David Carrell, Joel Horowitz.

First thing you need to do is puree the blueberries in a food processor. Then, combine the puree with simple syrup and lemon juice. Be aware that blueberries have the tendency to taste sweeter as it freezes so try not to over-sweeten the concoction.

Stir the moonshine in.

Pour the mixture in ice pop molds making sure to leave room atop the mixture for when it expands. Place sticks and allow it to freeze for four to five hours.

Then, unmold and serve!

For the simple syrup recipe and detailed measurements for each ingredient, go to Cooking Channel TV.

You can only SEE how the surface of your skin is rolling off as it burns because methanol’s flames are invisible.

Methanol is formed when pectin-rich beverages are fermented.

It is the simplest alcohol and is colorless, light, extremely volatile and very much flammable.

When ingested in large quantities, the body metabolizes it to produce formate salts – a chemical that poisons the central nervous system, cause coma, blindness and death.

When making moonshine, always throw the first 50 ml (out of a 20 l wash) you collect as this mostly consists of methanol.

It is methanol that is mainly responsible for hangovers and blindness.

If you are a first-time distiller of moonshine, NEVER distill alcohol indoors unless you want to set your house on fire or cause an explosion.

Alcohol vapor is easily combustible. If you are distilling and a leak occurs, the probability of alcohol vapor escaping is possible. The instance this occurs, you will not know it. For some people, they only get the sense that something’s wrong when they see items around them melting or when they see their skin folding.

You do not have to believe me though. You can try it out for yourself, better yet, watch how race car driver Rick Mears is engulfed in invisible flames back in 1981 during the Indy 500.

If this doesn’t terrify you, nothing will.

To the untrained eye, the reactions of these men would simply be odd, funny even. But to those who have the knowledge to detect burning methanol, Rick Mears and his mechanic demands immediate attention because they are burning!

Since the 1960s, methanol is combined with water and put in high-performance diesel engines to increase its power. Pure methanol is also used in open wheel auto racing. It was only in 2007 when IndyCars converted to ethanol.

Best Ways to Stay Safe

When distilling alcohol, it is important to seal any leaks present in the still. Doing so helps prevent explosions from occurring. You can place flour paste on the leak. When you see leaks during the distillation process, stop the operation and turn off the fire. Make sure the leaks are all repaired and soldered.

Also, do not leave a still unattended. When distilling, it is best that you know the time it would take to complete a batch. Doing so helps you know how long you have to wait it out. Some inadvertently leave a still for a short amount of time and then forget about it completely. Do NOT do this unless you want to tempt fate or see your still explode. Moonshine is so potent that if it touches a flame, it could instantly catch fire and burn anything and everything in its path.

It is also not advisable to use a plastic vessel to collect the distillate as plastic could easily burn and melt. A still operator who was distilling potent shine and collecting it in a plastic container got the shock of his life when it suddenly melted right before his eyes. Little did he know, it’s not just because plastic is a flimsy container for such a hard liquor, it’s the fact that his moonshine caught fire when it touched the flame and the operator didn’t know his hand was already burning. He was able to put the fire out though (which almost burned his kitchen). This situation also serves as a good reminder to not distill indoors.

See how pure methanol burns (the one on the left) compared to pure ethanol (the one on the right).

If these elephants could speak, they’re probably blaming us for their actions.

Specifically, they probably hate themselves for acting exactly like humans.

And them acting human is definitely beneath them, specially in this case.

This news shows how much we are a bad influence to other creatures of the animal kingdom.

When a gang of these gigantic pachyderms smelled hooch – thanks to their proximity to man’s habitat or maybe because man has infiltrated their natural habitat – these elephants began acting the way alcoholic men would: desperate and addicted.

When they got their hands – or their trunks – on 18 containers (or approximately 500 litres) of mahua, a powerful alcoholic brew in India, all hell-ephant broke loose.

Reports show that the mammals ransacked a shop, destroyed three houses and mangled a slew of crops in a village located in eastern Dumurkota, India.

The animals also allegedly demolished dozens of homes in their attempt to score more booze. And just like regular drunks, they were aggressive and unreasonable. Unlike most drunks though, they’re more scary when they fall asleep than when they’re awake because they could easily squish anyone to death once they decide to lie down and rest.

Fortunately, the drunk elephants were herded off to a river onto their regular migration route. They also probably slept through their hangover.

Take note though that their drink of choice – mahua – is different from the marula found in the woodlands of Southern Africa.

Mahua is an Indian tropical tree mostly found in the central and north Indian plains and forests. Its flower is edible and it is also considered as a food item. Besides being used for medicinal purposes, they are also fermented to become mahuwa – a liquor.

Meanwhile, the Marula is a medium-sized dioecious tree capable of becoming an alcoholic distilled beverage. Believe it or not, the marula fruit is consumed by animals found in Southern Africa.

There is even a myth that animals who eat the marula fruit could get drunk – a detail that is more fiction than truth and was unfortunately promoted in a movie released in 1974 entitled Animals Are Beautiful.

In it, various jungle animals are seen intoxicated allegedly due to their consumption of marula. However, it has been discovered that the scenes in this movie were staged as it was purportedly impossible for large-sized animals such as warthogs and elephants to be intoxicated from simply eating a few pieces of the marula fruit.

Experts claim that large animals require tons of fermented marulas in order for these to have any effect. Also, the quantity of water consumed by elephants are enough to dilute the alcohol effects of the fruit. Therefore, these animals seem to have been made intentionally drunk for our entertainment.

Again, the video displays the propensity of humans to act less than humans – we’re definitely not a good example to our friends in the animal kingdom.

The fruit of the Marula is utilized to make the popular Amarula liqueur.

In Africa, this cream liqueur consists of cream, sugar and the fruit of the marula. Its alcohol content is said to be 17%.

Donald Trump is a 66-year old business man and real estate magnate. He is president and chairman to 20,000+ employees of the Trump Organization; he is the founder of Trump Entertainment Resorts; he is number 17 in Forbes’ Celebrity 100 List; he is rich, he is popular. His success could be attributed to his wise business decisions.

But why is he acting like a 6-year old?

Reportedly, Donald Trump has decided to cut ties with the centuries old distiller that has been supplying his resort with scotch whiskey only because they got chummy with his Scottish enemy.

One of the world’s largest whisky company, William Grant & Sons, voted Trump’s arch enemy Michael Forbes as a “Top Scot” in a ceremony sponsored by the company’s leading brand Glenfiddich.

Michael Forbes is the Scottish farmer who stood up to Trump and said “NO!” to Trump’s plan to build a golf course on his farmland. Forbes unabashedly told the real estate magnate to take his golf course some place else.

Trump, probably not used to being refused, took this to heart and listed Michael Forbes as one of the people he swears he’d forever hate.

Now that Forbes is awarded by the Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland Awards, Trump is having a tantrum. Trump also now adds to his i-heart-to-hate-list the scotch whiskey company Glenfiddich.

Donald Trump: “I hereby call for a boycott on drinking Glenfiddich products because there is no way a result such as this could have been made by the Scottish people.”

Is it just me or is The Donald behaving like a kindergarten bully who is angry with his classmates for befriending a newcomer who courageously stood up for himself by holding onto his lunch money instead of giving it to a popular thug?

Just because Trump’s “friends” became friendly with the competition, Trump decided they don’t deserve to be his friends anymore?

Trump: “…I make a pledge that no Trump property will ever do business with Glenfiddich or William Grant & Sons.”

Whatever happened to “It’s not personal, it’s just business” ?

To rub salt to what Trump believes is Glenfiddich’s wounds, Trump declares that the distillery is actually jealous because he created his own single malt whisky without Glenfiddich’s help and it tastes better. Trump also claims people like his whisky so much that customers in his hotel forgot all about Glenfiddich and stopped ordering it altogether.

“Glenfiddich is upset that we created our own single malt whisky using another distillery, which offers far greater products. People at our clubs do not ask for Glenfiddich..”

It’s amazing Trump hit two birds with one stone. He made two enemies at the price of one. And all because – despite all the properties he owns all over the world – he can’t have a piece of land in the outskirts of Scotland.

On the positive side, Trump has a new whisky to his name. If it tastes good, maybe we’re all the better for it.

Poorly distilled moonshine or whiskey from moonshine stills could make one go blind specially if these mixtures utilized automotive radiators as condensers. Glycol, anti-freeze and other congeners such as acetone are usual products of poorly distilled liquor. Be aware that all these are lethal once ingested.

A good moonshine has properly discarded the foreshot (the first ounces of alcohol that drips off from the condenser). It is this foreshot that contains the most methanol. Moonshine that contains the most methanol is considered toxic and could result to death or blindness once consumed.

Actual case of blindness due to drinking

Believe it or not, a man in New Zealand literally drank himself blind because he consumed tons of vodka while he was on medication for his diabetes. Fortunately, his sight was saved by a doctor who recommended that the patient be tube-fed with a bottle of whiskey.

Denis Duthie is a chef in Taranaki (a region located in the west of New Zealand’s North Island) who heavily drank vodka at a party. His drinking nearly killed him that he had to be immediately admitted to the intensive care unit of the Taranaki Base Hospital.

Upon admission, he already lost his sight, his blood showed abnormally high acid levels and his pH level was way below normal.

NOTE: Death usually occurs in people who have pH levels below 6.8. Duthie’s pH level was reportedly extremely below this standard.

Immediately, Taranaki doctor Allister Williams administered Johnnie Walker whisky to Duthie by infusing it in his stomach. The result was a medical miracle.

According to Dr. Williams, the case is so rare he considers it memorable. Originally from Cape Town, South Africa, Dr. Williams is a kidney specialist who treated Duthie. It was he who saw the large amount of acid in the patient’s blood and feared that the patient will not survive due to the amount of alcohol in his body.

65-year old Duthie was admitted in the hospital due to methanol poisoning.

Dr. Williams works as a physician nephrologist consultant in the hospital. He claims that methanol poisoning is treated via infusing the patient with ethanol in order to counter the methanol inside the body. Doing so helps halt the build up of lethal toxins.

Unfortunately, there was no accessible medical alcohol in the hospital when Duthie arrived. A medical registrar resourcefully acquired the next best alternative – Johnnie Walker red label.

Actual case of getting one’s sight back thanks to whiskey!

The commercial whiskey was infused in Duthie’s stomach via a tube through his nose. This was done while Duthie was undergoing dialysis and he was connected to a ventilator to support his breathing.

Dr. Williams explains, Johnnie Walker red label need not be strictly used as anything that contains ethanol is just as helpful. He also adds that people need to be aware of the fact that most household products actually contain methanol. These products vary from windshield wiper fluid, cleaner, solvents and other industrial products.

Methanol ingestion could also be had from inhaling or consuming illicit moonshine still distillation.

However, the best solution is always preventative. Drinking moderately and wisely is also highly advisable.

Rum Barrels available for sale at The Mai-Kai again | – Speaking of Rum Barrels (see previous post), the little lady and I spent a nice hour at the Molokai Bar at The Mai-Kai in Fort Lauderdale last night for The Hukilau kick-off party. I was happy to see they were serving the Barrel O’ Rum in the barrel mug again (last time we were there they were out, said all of them had been stolen by guests). They’re also for sale in the gift shop for $17 bucks.